Friday, September 2, 2016

A Whale of a Tale, or Thoughts on Kirk Douglas in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

What people don’t realize about Kirk Douglas,
the original Spartacus (1960), is that he was an all around entertainer from
the Vaudeville tradition who would do anything he could to keep your attention
on him, be it dancing, singing, fighting, gymnastics or histrionic scenery
chewing.His onscreen charisma and
naturalistic style is a joy to watch, and sadly missing from most modern
performers.In 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea (1954) he portrays Ned Land, the two-fisted singing whaler and
shipwreck survivor aboard James Mason’s Nautilus.James Mason’s portrayal of Captain Nemo can’t help but be
compared with Uncle Walt himself, another megalomaniacal visionary as he
promotes his utopian life on the sea, including an all-seafood diet and seaweed
cigars.Also a pet seal named
Esme, it’s a Disney movie, after all.

From the 1870 novel of the same name by
Jules Verne, the movie also stars Paul Lukas as Professor Aronnax of the Paris
National Museum investigating rumors sea monsters in the Pacific along with
Peter Lorre, vaguely European accent and shifty, mournful eyes as his assistant
Conseil.It’s a leisurely storytelling
style, with plenty of time for a sea shanty musical number by Kirk that seems
anachronistic by contemporary standards, from a time when audiences demanded
more from a cinematic experience than explosions and non-stop action.

The visual style of the movie, which I
suppose we could call Disney steampunk, remains visionary and innovative.The look of the Nautilus is an ironclad
Civil War era ship but with the streamlined fins of a mid-century Cadillac.The fully realized interiors are
reminiscent of HR Giger’s design of the Nostromo, but of course with the
lighthearted Disney touch.The underwater
scenes are convincing with simple animations and lighting tricks, while the
brass diving suits and design of the Nautilus manage the challenge of looking
concurrently antique and futuristic.

However it wouldn’t be a mid-century
Hollywood movie without some moments of cringe-y racial insensitivities, in
addition to fighting a giant squid the Nautilus encounters a tribe of South
Seas cannibals that they repel with the magical wonders of an electrified
hull.The scene is played for
laughs as they dance barefoot on the hull, and is difficult to watch.All movies are products of their time,
and that’s just how we saw the world back then.

my first novel? thanks
for asking:) it’s a the first book
in a 4-volume supernatural martial arts series chock full of killer kung-fu
witches, haunted carnivals, punk rock assassins, and a 24-hour diner with the
best pie in town…

read for free on kindle unlimited or buy the paperback, available at
fine bookstores everywhere (amazon).